The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1887-05-20
TEMPERANCE READING.
GREAT BRITAIN.
What Has G06ls ana Is Coming Out of
the Temperance Aaitaslous

What Has C0tne ana Is coming Out of
the Temperance Aaitasion
Sntemperance in Great Britain
fetehea its high water mark-or rath-
er high spirit mark-in 1876. In that
year the estimated drink bill of her
thirty three million people Vas $685.
100000, or $50, 600 more thai Tie
estimated bill of our ffty-five million
peoples Had this rate of expenditure
continued, England's bill last year
Would have been SS0j, 100000. Instead
of this, it Was but sos, 000 600. So
much for financial statistics
This decrease in the consunipti6a of
liquor has been due to the increased
number of total abstainers. Wine
drinking is no longer matter of
course, and the churches, especially
the dissenting churches, are taking
hold of the Temperance question as
of the first Importance in their relig-
ious work. Even in Scotland, so ia
mous for its drunkenness. this is being
done. In the April Forum Rev.
John Snyder says that the Free Church
of Scotland "has one thousand and
thirty-tiye congregations, and among
them five hundred and fifty of the min
listers, seven-eighths Of the theological
students, and large proportion of the
Christian workers are total abstainers.
The like is true of the Presbyterian
Church in Ireland" In England and
Wales it is only the highest and the
lowest grades of society which have
failed to be affected by the total alb
stinence agitation. The army of tee
totalers is estimated at three millions.
The tradespeople and the better class
of artisans are profoundly in sympa-
thy with the agitation, and as these
constitute the backbone of the Liberal
party, that party is becoming more
and more strongly committed to Tenn
perance legislation. In the campaign
of 1880 the Conservatives protested
against the local-option declaration of
the Liberals, and plead for the ''liber-
ty of the poor man to his beer.
Through their support of the Estab-
lishment they retained the allegiance
of the mass of the Church of England
clergy and campaign was fought
with "Beer and the Bible" as a cry
word. However, the campaign was
an unsuccessful one, and the vested
rights of the Establishment were only
injured by their association with the
vested rights of the innkeepers. Since
the suffrage has been extended it has
been found that the newly-enfranchised
voters are, as class, the most deter
mined in their opposition to the sa-
looms. The cause of local prohibition
has been advancing with enormous
strides. A ''plebiscite" on the liquor
question just taken in Glasgow result
ed as follows: There were II, 246
househOlders in favor of the people
having complete control of the liquor
traffic by their votes, and 1876 against;
57,704 were in favor of entire prohibi-
ton, and 19,4f1 against; II, 427 were
favorable to reduction in the present
number of licensed houses, and 1851
against; 6S,302 were opposed and H.
235 not opposed to all new licenses.
Such startling and overwhelming
anti-saloon majority as this will prob
ably lead to the conversion of a great
number of the leaders of political
opinion.
A recent supplement to the Chris
tiGn Commonwealth, publishes an al
most complete list of the present men,
bers of Parliament, with their positions
upon the subject of local option. The
members are divided into three classes.
The first class comprises the names of
all the members of the House of Com
mons who have declared in favor of
giving the people power to control or
abolish the liquor traffic by direct
vote. This Is commonly known as the
Direct Veto. Its Parliamentary sup
porters number over one hundred and
sixty. Among them are John Morley,
A. j. Mundella, Jesse Ceilings, w. o.
Caine, Charles Bradlaugh and denry
Labouchere. Bradlaugh and Labouch-
ere represent the radical working-men
of Northampton, and their support of
this measure is therefore one of the
signs of the times.
The second list gives the names of
all those M. Prs who are in favor of
local option ia some modified and re-
strictcd form. They wish the will of
the people to be expressed, not directly,
but through boards representing the
people. Here We find more than hum
dred names more; among them Joseph
Chamberlain, John Bright and Sir
William Harcourt. The third list en-
braces the members who are opposed
to Direct Vote and local option, and
therefore presumably hostile to all at
.tempts to deal with the liquor traffic
by legislative enactment. This list is
less than one hundred larger ttan the
other two combined. 1t includes Glad
stone, Parnell, Harrington, Churchill
and most of the Conservatives. Some
of these men are probably not opposed
to local option, but do not wish to
have to many fights on their hands at
one time. For instance, Mr.. Gladstone
in his speech in the House of Com
mons, March 5, 1880, uttered these
often-quoted words: sit has been said
that greater calamities are inflicted on
mankind by intemperance than by the
three great historical scourges-war,
pestilence and famine. This is true
for us, and it is the measure of our dis
credit and our disgrace" When a
little later he returned to power the
leading members of his Cabinet were
pronounced total abstainers. Accord
ing to Gustafson, Sir Charles Dixie
was conspicuous total abstainer
Mr.. Chamberlain had assured the Biz
mingham Six Hundred that temper
ance reform lies at the bottom of all
further political, social and religious
progress" and as for Mr.. Bright,
s.from the time he became house